Hallway Love and 2 Projects

We are going on a little more house tour today!  I LOVE this area. It is the entrance to our home.  From the front door one walks into a nice size area with a crazy 2 story foyer height.  It's open to the den, dining and a sneaky peak of the kitchen.  I'd always wanted a very open floor plan, and we got it with this home.  The walls are of course the khaki pants color (blogged about this before...).  Eventually I will be painting this area a cool gray to match the FABULOUS chandelier we received for Christmas from Dad and B.  It will get it's own post, and perhaps even a video blog about the installation.  Billy is a whippersnapper at light changing, but this changing will literally require scaffolding!  And since the scaffolding will be in place, I will probably paint then.  woohooo!!

I had trouble at first decided how to lay the area out.  This skinny area below actually originally led to a library, the door behind the giant birdcage leads to this.  But the prior owners turned that into a closet in the master bedroom.  Um....yes, you would think you'd died and gone to closet heaven like me when you see it (yes, I will be showing it off...I just have to.  It is fabulous.)  So I wanted to close the area off.  The birdcage needs a little something inside....I am thinking about piling it with my old books.  I recently saw this done in the Pottery Barn Catalogue.

The black hand painted sign is a favorite purchase at Marist this year.  Under this I felt I needed to show our family in some way (since the sign talks about our family).  AHA!  A bulletin board.  So here's how I made it:

1-  ran to the basement and chose a frame from the pile

2- strung twine back and forth attaching with a staple gun

3-  strung a few fabulous turquoise buttons on the twine

4-  selected a family photo and other trinkets that meant something to our family

5-  attached a saw tooth hanger

6-  ran back upstairs and hung it up!  tops...15 minutes  You could do this with any type of frame really.

Now below is another fun project, and yes those are hands...my children's hands actually.  We made the sculptures in art camp a few years back.  It's a very cool project to do. Just follow these steps:

1-  purchase plaster gauze rolls at the craft store.  at my store it's where the fimo clay and stuff is located.

2-  have your child lather their hand in good old fashion Vaseline and then saran wrap

3-  pose the hand as you want it.  Not too complicated though, it is a little tricky getting this off!

4-  according to the plaster gauze instructions wet the strips and wrap on your child's hand loooooosely.  seriously.  this is not a cast!

5-  allow to set.  warn your child it gets warm(not hot) as it is setting.  it's how you know it's working.

6-  using scissors cut a slit so your child can slip their hand out of the casting

7-  use more plaster gauze to band-aid where you cut the slit

8-  you may have to trim the bottom to get it to stand up

And that's it!  What a wonderful way to preserve your sweet child's hands.

So that's all for today.  A peek into a favorite new vignette in our home.  We continue to nest away.  Loving it more as each day passes.